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Lippmann (crater)

Coordinates: 56°00′S 114°54′W / 56.0°S 114.9°W / -56.0; -114.9
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Lippmann
Coordinates56°00′S 114°54′W / 56.0°S 114.9°W / -56.0; -114.9
Diameter160 km
DepthUnknown
Colongitude119° at sunrise
EponymGabriel Lippmann
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 image, facing west

Lippmann is a large lunar impact crater in the southern part of the far side of the Moon and so cannot be viewed directly from the Earth. Just to the northeast is the walled plain Mendel, only slightly smaller than Lippmann. To the south-southeast lies the crater Petzval.

Lippmann is named after Gabriel Lippmann (1845–1921), a Nobel laureate in physics.

As with many lunar formations of this size, Lippmann has been eroded by subsequent impacts. The southeastern part of the rim has been overlain by the satellite crater Lippmann L, which in turn has become worn and eroded. The relatively fresh crater Lippmann Q lies across the southwest rim. The remaining rim has become worn and rounded, with a few surviving terrace-like features and the rim edge having lost their definition. The western and eastern sides of the crater in particular are nearly overlain by ejecta material.

The interior floor is relatively level, at least in the western two-thirds, but is marked by several impacts. The most notable of these is Lippmann P, located just to the southwest of the midpoint. A short chain of small craterlets lies along the southern part of the floor. The remainder is marked by a few small craterlets and pitted by tiny craters.

The terrain to the north and east of this crater are streaked with features that are radial to the huge Mare Orientale impact basin to the northeast. Also, Lippmann lies to the southwest of the Mendel-Rydberg Basin, a 630 km wide impact basin of Nectarian age (older than Orientale), and it is on the southeast margin of the Pre-Nectarian South Pole-Aitken Basin.

Satellite craters

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By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Lippmann.

Lippmann Latitude Longitude Diameter
B 52.6° S 110.9° W 29 km
E 55.4° S 107.6° W 23 km
J 59.0° S 106.6° W 19 km
L 57.6° S 112.5° W 54 km
P 56.1° S 115.0° W 29 km
Q 57.0° S 118.7° W 27 km
R 57.2° S 121.3° W 37 km

References

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  • Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
  • Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
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  • McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  • Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. S2CID 122125855.
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  • Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
  • Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
  • Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3.
  • Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
  • Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.